Corvids, love 'em or hate 'em...
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Clair De Lune
Apocalypse cocktails
Love them, such clever, cheeky little fuckers. So much I got a pair tattooed on my leg. They come and jump on my roof every morning.
My neighbour has a giant dog/wolf malamute husky thing. Magpies hop right past him, into the house and steal his food from his bowl.
My neighbour has a giant dog/wolf malamute husky thing. Magpies hop right past him, into the house and steal his food from his bowl.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Their futile pursuits of kites and buzzards I find lamentable. Their (crows) clearing of the countryside of all manner of, death basically, a joy to behold.
Jays make a hypocrite of me with their beauty, because they are but a more attractive magpie, and we have plenty around here.
Magpies can just fuck off. A fantastic symbol of the modern world, a dog eat dog - ok magpie eat baby birds - rise concomitant with all things Thatcherite, their numbers swelling as society dies on its arse. Fuck ‘em.
Jays make a hypocrite of me with their beauty, because they are but a more attractive magpie, and we have plenty around here.
Magpies can just fuck off. A fantastic symbol of the modern world, a dog eat dog - ok magpie eat baby birds - rise concomitant with all things Thatcherite, their numbers swelling as society dies on its arse. Fuck ‘em.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
^
Let me add to that because that’s incredibly unfair on the jay.
The jay has a brilliantly symbiotic relationship with the oak tree. Jays are almost single-handedly (single-beakedly ?) responsible for the repopulation of the land with oak trees. Jays eat acorns. But first, jays bury acorns. And they do so at a remarkably exact depth needed for the acorn to take root. Not only this, they bury them near markers (so they can remember where they put them) such as thorn trees and bushes (blackthorn etc) which are a perfect defence system for the oak to keep other predators away while taking root. Not only that, when the jay goes back to feed off the acorn, which may now be a newly sprung oak tree, it feeds off the first fat primal leaves which contain stored food reserves most plants need to grow. Except the oak doesn’t need this food reserve. That’s where the symbiosis comes in. The jay takes it instead. And not only that, but the time of year when the jay has other food sources to use is exactly the time of year the oak tree needs to spring forth (April to August).
A single jay can plant 7500 acorns in 4 weeks. It’s a remarkable piece of nature.
Let me add to that because that’s incredibly unfair on the jay.
The jay has a brilliantly symbiotic relationship with the oak tree. Jays are almost single-handedly (single-beakedly ?) responsible for the repopulation of the land with oak trees. Jays eat acorns. But first, jays bury acorns. And they do so at a remarkably exact depth needed for the acorn to take root. Not only this, they bury them near markers (so they can remember where they put them) such as thorn trees and bushes (blackthorn etc) which are a perfect defence system for the oak to keep other predators away while taking root. Not only that, when the jay goes back to feed off the acorn, which may now be a newly sprung oak tree, it feeds off the first fat primal leaves which contain stored food reserves most plants need to grow. Except the oak doesn’t need this food reserve. That’s where the symbiosis comes in. The jay takes it instead. And not only that, but the time of year when the jay has other food sources to use is exactly the time of year the oak tree needs to spring forth (April to August).
A single jay can plant 7500 acorns in 4 weeks. It’s a remarkable piece of nature.
bellaozzydog
rolling turds in glitter
Do you salute magpies?
I always say 'Good morning/afternoon, your worship(s)'
I was told this is because they look like a judge who is about to give a death sentence with the black hood on
But some people ask after a single magpie's family because they mate for life (One for sorrow, two for joy etc)
When you see a single magpie
You are supposed to ask them how their wife is. And salute
They cavort in pairs so if theirs only one around the other is probably mashed on the road
ETA dudn’t Read second half of your post
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littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yeah, they really work things out. And they work you out as well.
Any recommendations?
Have you read Bernd Heinrich's Mind of the Raven? I strongly recommend it as a minimally sentimental, but really engaged, account of corvid cleverness.
If you haven't read it already, probably my favourite book on cognitive ethology is Carl Safina's Beyond Words. Only small bits in that about corvids, but it's a brilliant book, imo.
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littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Got a few crow stories. Think the Japanese pedestrian crossing is my favourite.
They drop their nuts on the crossing for cars to crush them then wait at the side of the road for the green man to show and walk out to eat the nuts.
Shows an ability not only to watch us closely but to work out the rules we follow in order to exploit them. Crows have a decent idea of other minds.
They drop their nuts on the crossing for cars to crush them then wait at the side of the road for the green man to show and walk out to eat the nuts.
Shows an ability not only to watch us closely but to work out the rules we follow in order to exploit them. Crows have a decent idea of other minds.
We have jackdaws in our garden, bringing up youngsters, they make a right racket when they're young and begging for grub, it pisses off my neighbour, she's a right twat so that pleases me no end. 
I love them, they're beautiful creatures, they drop toast that someone on our street leaves out every morning in the birdbath to soften it.
Corvids are ace
I love them, they're beautiful creatures, they drop toast that someone on our street leaves out every morning in the birdbath to soften it.
Corvids are ace
...post here about them, because they deserve their own thread
Got two magpies nesting in next door's tree. On the one hand, they've stopped the seagulls from nesting on my roof, because they killed last year's chick. So that's nice.
On the other hand, they are fuckers are will predate all the chicks, so I'm worried for the wood pigeons nesting in my other neighbours bush (ooh, er)
Mr and Mrs Blackbird, however, are being very robust in keeping them away, with one of them chasing the magpies off when the other is returning with food.
Here they are making very loud alarm noises, because one of my cats
View attachment 172127
So, love 'em or hate 'em?
E2A also, look at my massive rose. Smells amazing as well, two more on the way already.
We have robins, blackbirds, sparrows, goldfinch and tits all successfully raising young in our garden, there is a pair of magpies that come every day to our bird table and generally hang about, the blackbirds mob them and scare them off. There are lots of fledglings now being fed by adult birds so they don't seem to have made a catastrophic dent.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
We have jackdaws in our garden, bringing up youngsters, they make a right racket when they're young and begging for grub, it pisses off my neighbour, she's a right twat so that pleases me no end.
I love them, they're beautiful creatures, they drop toast that someone on our street leaves out every morning in the birdbath to soften it.
That's almost a definition of cleverness, isn't it? You don't just take the world as it comes, you have a good look at everything and try to work out ways to make stuff better.
Jeff Robinson
Marxist-Lentilist: Jackboots and Jackfruit
Yeah, they really work things out. And they work you out as well.
Any recommendations?
Have you read Bernd Heinrich's Mind of the Raven? I strongly recommend it as a minimally sentimental, but really engaged, account of corvid cleverness.
If you haven't read it already, probably my favourite book on cognitive ethology is Carl Safina's Beyond Words. Only small bits in that about corvids, but it's a brilliant book, imo.
I liked John Marzluff’s ‘In the Company of Crows and Ravens’, other than that I’ve skimmed some journal articles and watched YouTube videos. I must read Heinrich’s book!
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
my uncle used to adopt/domesticate corvids. my mum's bird phobia was crystallised on a teenage caravan holiday when it was just her and the jackdaw - between her and the door 
apparently the brighter the bird the longer the adolescence. i remember the experiment where the parents taught their kids to hate the dude in the mask
was pretty instructive to witness the relevance (to humans) of a gang of magpies in the swedish arctic. they make a lot of noise, draw attention to themselves. they were circling around a moose calf trapped in the ice/drowning in the river.
apparently the brighter the bird the longer the adolescence. i remember the experiment where the parents taught their kids to hate the dude in the mask
was pretty instructive to witness the relevance (to humans) of a gang of magpies in the swedish arctic. they make a lot of noise, draw attention to themselves. they were circling around a moose calf trapped in the ice/drowning in the river.
mauvais
on reddit or something
It's not futile. They're defending their nests, and they're surprisingly successful IME, able to harass away some fairly serious birds of prey.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
They try it on all year round so it's not defending their nests. And they have no chance against the flying agility of a red kite. It's laughable to watch sometimes.
mauvais
on reddit or something
If not nests then territory. I've watched them get rid of kites and buzzards. They'll not win per se but they don't lose either.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Sparrows and starlings and other birds all mob predators to get rid of them from nests.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
I know. My point is, here in west Wales where we are full of red kites in particular, as well as buzzards, I see every day almost the 'pursuit' of kites by crows. And the kite has such agility it doesn't even give a damn, knowing it can out-twist and turn the crow at will.
I never see the crows win. Ever.
The crows in wayward bob's vid were going mad at him when he put that mask on because they've all seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Can you imagine stumbling upon him with his murdery face on while you were innocently walking your dog
Can you imagine stumbling upon him with his murdery face on while you were innocently walking your dog
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
I particular like the way crows bounce as they walk around. Its really quite amusing and endearing at the same time.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
massive gang of magpies out making a racket today. i thought they might be nest-raiding but they were mobbing another magpie to wounding maybe death? 
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
A crow was tormenting a dog in the park today. Standing just out of range, it squawked its head off until the dog could resist no longer and chased after it. Crow disappeared into a tree, dog ran back to its owner. Crow reemerged very quickly, strutting, returned to the same spot and started squawking again. I can't really see any motivation for that other than that the crow was bored and amusing itself.
Calamity1971
If Mr Peanut says It's okay, then it is.
I've had to cable tie my bird feeders on to the stand as the jackdaws/crows and rooks were un hooking them and dumping it all on the ground. It worked for about a month before they worked out that they could empty them out by grabbing the bottom with their beak, taking off and turning them upside down. Clever bastards.
Love em.
Love em
.
Humberto
Relax
There is a clan of local magpies that hassled the same neighbour's cat for ages. I know the cat's owner and the cat cos i sometimes used to feed him. They'd always, usually two of them, make a bit of a racket and sure enough if you looked out the window they were tormenting the same cat. I'd watch sometimes and they were clearly trying to wind him up.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
ours gets bullied by the magpies. he has a healthy wariness of them if yesterday was anything to go by :/
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